Monday, August 29, 2011

Fruit fruit fruit (and veggies)!


When I woke up this morning bright and early at 5am to head to work it was a crisp 55 degrees outside!  As I drove to work from a wonderful weekend at my sister and brother-in-law's house, several things were running through my mind (and several peaches passed my lips):

1.) I can't wait for a long run after work at 9am in this completely gorgeous fall-like weather!

2.) God is really good to make mornings as beautiful as these.

3.) I am counting down the seconds until after my run when I can eat that cantaloupe I bought the other day.  I will hold myself back from eating the entire thing.  :)




One of my favorite things about the raw vegan lifestyle is my amount of energy all day long--before, during and after workouts.  I ran for an hour at a pretty quick pace and felt fantastic and was thankful for the peaches I ate for breakfast.

Since I had a wonderfully relaxing weekend at Ash and Jim's lake house, I skipped a weight lifting workout on my schedule.  Lounging around watching movies with lovely people trumped any muscles I was aiming to gain this weekend.  Sidenote: my little sister is the most adorable 7-month-pregnant woman.  She and her husband Jim are cross country coaches and I went to their race on Saturday to cheer them on (and the runners as well, I suppose).



Today I was feeling extra sassy and motivated and decided to lift weights after my run.  My energy kept coming and coming even though I was working out one of my least favorite muscle groups: deltoids (shoulders).  My deltoids have told me they would rather just stay flabby.  We have disagreements often.

One skepticism I want to put the kabosh on is that a raw vegan DOES NOT survive on lettuce, tomato and cucumber.  Our body desires fats, sugars, and salts, and believe it or not, you are able to get these in this lifestyle.  And in abundance!  And without deprivation!   

Most of my "meals" require no preparation.  For example, at breakfast I'll eat several bananas or several peaches.  Post-workouts I'll sometimes eat a bowl of cherry tomatoes, a whole cucumber and a whole pepper with a lot of spinach.  One of my personal favorites are apples and almonds with an avocado.   

But sometimes the mood strikes me to prepare something wonderful.  One of the highlights of my day in terms of food was a delightful organic salsa I made. 






Organic tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and peaches.  YUM!



Friday, August 26, 2011

My new oxymoron life






I was recently called "a real-life oxymoron".  This happened shortly after I dismounted my bicycle after a 3 hour ride and a friend mentioned he heard that I had been eating only raw fruits, veggies, seeds, and nuts.  Without pausing for me to answer, he rattled off several questions: "How can someone train hard for triathlons without eating meat or pasta?  How can you recover properly?  It is impossible you have energy for workouts and races.  How are you a raw foodist who does triathlons?  You are a real-life oxymoron.  Those two terms don't go together."
  
When one thinks of a triathlete one might imagine a dedicated individual who (when they are not swimming, biking, or running) eats copious amounts of chicken, fish, protein bars, and pasta.  On the flip side, the terms "raw vegan" or "raw foodist" usually equates to a hippy-dippy-trippy who snacks only on lettuce, tomato, and cucumber.

I've been inspired to start this blog as a testimonial that it is possible to be a triathlete who eats raw vegan food.  I hope to answer questions and skepticism, share basics like recipes and workouts, and reveal (in my self-deprecating fashion) my trial and errors, struggles, and successes.  :)